"It didn't happen today. It could happen next week," said state Rep. Renny Cushing, the bill's chief sponsor.

Cushing is a Hampton Democrat whose father and brother-in-law were murdered.

"It was a tie vote not to kill the bill," said Cushing, who stood alongside Manchester police Chief David Mara in the Senate gallery as the vote was taken. The two men represent opposite sides of the issue. The only man on death row in New Hampshire is Michael Addison, convicted of killing Manchester police Officer Michael Briggs in 2006.

U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte said she was pleased the state Senate did not overturn the death penalty law.

“Having prosecuted the Michael Addison case, I was concerned about the impact on that case,” she said.

A jury sentenced Addison to death in 2008. Some argue that repealing capital punishment could commute his sentence.

“No one in this country has been executed for nearly 100 years in a state that has repealed its death penalty, and the precedent of that changing in the United States Supreme Court is highly unlikely,” said state Sen. Jen Bradley of Wolfeboro.

Mara and other Manchester officers have been passionate in speaking against repeal, saying they were echoing the sentiments of Briggs' widow and children.

State Sen. Bob Odell, a Lempster Republican, said he had always supported the death penalty.

"But today, I'm going to vote for repeal," he said, saying he wouldn't know how he would explain an execution to his young grandchildren.

Only two Republicans crossed party lines to back repeal.

The House last month voted in favor of repeal 225-104 and Gov. Maggie Hassan said she would sign the measure into law as long as Addison's death sentence remained intact. The bill is crafted to affect only those crimes that occur after Jan. 1, 2014.

It was the closest a death penalty repeal measure has come since 2000, when both houses passed it, but it was vetoed by then-Gov. Jeanne Shaheen.

The state's last execution was in 1939, when Howard Long was hanged for molesting and beating a 10-year-old boy to death.

"I thank the Legislature for their open, fair and compassionate consideration of this sensitive issue," Hassan said after the vote. "I know that each senator listened to all viewpoints and made a difficult decision, and I appreciate the respect they showed for New Hampshire's democratic process."

Before the vote, a number of senators spoke of their respect for their colleagues and the difficult decision they faced, saying it was a vote of conscience. The debate was civil, the mood of the chamber somber.

Had repeal passed, New Hampshire would have become the seventh state in seven years to abolish capital punishment.

Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center, testified earlier this month that four states have recently repealed measures that left convicts on death row. In Illinois, the governor commuted death sentences to life in prison without possibility of parole. Three states that repealed the death penalty still have convicts on death row, including Connecticut, Maryland and New Mexico.

Several factors drove the latest repeal effort in New Hampshire, from the marked decline in death sentences and executions nationwide to the cost and perceived racial bias in the Addison case. (Addison is black and got the death penalty; a white defendant who faced the same punishment in a different homicide the same year got life in prison.) Executions have gone from an average of 300 a year in the late 1990s to 39 in 2013.

The voices of those who supported repeal outnumbered death penalty supporters by about 5-to-1 during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing earlier this month and included the parents and children of murder victims. Some new faces supported repeal, including former Chief Justice John Broderick and former Attorney General Philip McLaughlin.

Representatives of four police agencies testified against repeal, calling the death penalty a "strategic tool" to deal with the worst of criminals.

Political analysts said while the bill is likely dead, the controversy could figure in the coming election season.

“In the race for governor, we could see the death penalty up there as a big issue, like Medicaid expansion or even the budget,” said WMUR Political Director James Pindell.

SIGNED INTO LAW HAD IT REACHED HER DESK. ADAM SEXTON JOINS US LIVE FROM THE STATE HOUSE NOW WITH A LOOK AT HOW THIS COULD PLAY IN THEUP COMING ELECTION. THIS WAS AN AGONIZING SETBACK FOR BACKERS OF REPEAL WHO FELL JUST ONE VOTE SHORT AFTER FINALLY HAVING THE SUPPORT OF THE GOVERNOR THIS YEAR. NOW THEY COULD SEE THEIR VOTES USED AGAINST THEM IN SEPTEMBER AND NOVEMBER. BIG CROWDS TURNED OUT AT THE STATE HOUSE THURSDAY TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR REPEALING THE DEATH PENALTY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. BUT THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE NUMBERS THEY NEEDED IN THE SENATE, WHERE THE BILL FAILED AFTER A 12-12 TIE VOTE. ONLY TWO REPUBLICANS CROSSED PARTY LINES TO BACK REPEAL. IT'S POSSIBLE CRUCIAL SWING VOTES STAYED PUT AFTER HEARING FROM U.S. SENATOR KELLY AYOTTE. I'M PLEASED THAT THE SENATE DID NOT OVERTURN THE DEATH PENALTY LAW IN THIS STATE. HAVING PROSECUTED THE MICHAEL ADDISON CASE, I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE IMPACT ON THAT CASE. MICHAEL ADDISON MURDERED MANCHESTER POLICE OFFICER MICHAEL BRIGGS IN 2006. A JURY SENTENCED ADDISON TO DEATH IN 2008. SOME ARGUE THAT REPEALING CAPITAL PUNISHMENT COULD EFFECTIVELY COMMUTE HIS DEATH SENTENCE. NO ONE IN THIS COUNTRY HAS BEEN EXECUTED FOR NEARLY 100 YEARS IN THE STATE THAT HAS REPEALED ITS DEATH PENALTY, AND THE PRECEDENT OF THAT CHANGING IN THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY. A VISUAL REMINDER OF THE ADDISON CASE, MANCHESTER'S POLICE CHIEF AND DEPUTY CHIEF STOOD IN THE SENATE GALLERY THURSDAY. QUEEN CITY SENATOR DONNA SOUCI WHO VOTED FOR REPEAL ACT ANED THE UNIQUE DIFFICULTY OF THE DEATH PENALTY DEBATE. I AM STRUGGLING AND HAVE STRUGGLED WITH THIS DECISION LIKE NOTHING ELSE. POLITICAL ANALYSTS SAY WHILE THIS BILL IS LIKELY DEAD, THE CONTROVERSY COULD FIGURE IN THE COMING ELECTION SEASON. IN THE RACE FOR GOVERNOR WE COULD SEE DEATH PENALTY UP THERE AS A BIG ISSUE, LIKE MEDICAID EXPANSION OR EVEN THE BUDGET. TECHNICALLY THIS BILL COULD STILL COME BACK OFF THE TABLE WITH A SIMPLE MAJORITY VOTE. BUT IT'S NOT CLEAR WHO AMONG THE 11 REPUBLICANS AND ONE DEMOCRAT WHO VOTED NO MIGHT CHANGE THEIR MIND. LIVE AT THE STATE HOUSE IN